CJP Isa seeks to revise history in ZA Bhutto’s reference

CJP makes these statements during hearing of a presidential reference about the death sentence of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

ISLAMABAD: In a presidential reference to former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s death sentence, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa said on Monday that the Supreme Court is currently looking at one person’s honor and seeking to fix the history “as it wants to set a better example”.

The CJP made these statements during the hearing of the presidential reference to review the death sentence imposed on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder.

The larger bench of the Supreme Court, led by CJP Isa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Musarrat Hilali, resumed hearing of the presidential reference seeking to revisit the 1979 “controversial” death sentence.

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Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979, in the Rawalpindi district jail in a murder case. His party, on the other hand, described Bhutto’s execution as “judicial murder”.

On April 2, 2011, former President Asif Ali Zardari filed a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution seeking the Supreme Court’s judgment on reconsidering the prosecution of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder.

During the preceding hearing on December 12, 2023, Justice Mansoor expressed concerns about the presidential reference. The Supreme Court judge sought aid in determining legal concerns, noting that the court had earlier dismissed an appeal against its verdict, which had already gained finality.

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“The Supreme Court cannot hear another appeal on the subject. How can we rehear a case that has been closed?”

The court hearings for the reference were streamed live on the Supreme Court’s official website and its YouTube page.